What it’s like living in a school bus conversion

More and more peopleare choosing to live in a school bus conversion, which I think is a fascinating trend. It’s a tiny home otherwise known as a “skoolie,” and there are a variety of reasons people are choosing converted school bus campers over RVs and camper van conversions.

I decided to find out more about this trend and interviewed two people currently living in a bus conversion full time. Interesting lifestyle!

Why a school bus conversion?

www.thefrugalrver.com

Derek and Amy Cobia of The Frugal RVer didn’t use a school bus conversion at first….when they sold their home and got rid of their belongings, they bought a large 5th wheel RV with a pick-up truck to go with it. They hoped to save money and travel, but soon realized it wasn’t going to happen with such a big rig.

“After living in it for a year we realized we weren’t cutting as many costs as we wanted and we weren’t traveling,” said Amy. “We’d travel a bit but it wasn’t very convenient. Plus, I couldn’t put my touch on it and that bothered me. Even hanging a picture wasn’t easy.”

Derek agreed: “The RV introduced us to the lifestyle so it’s hard to regret that move, but financially it was the big mistake of our relationship because we thought our house on wheels could go anywhere but it wasn’t that easy. We were paying campground fees and ended up paying $700 per month camping on top of the payment for our truck and RV.”

They wanted something off-grid and small enough to have a good turning radius.

So, they turned their attention toward living in a bus rv conversion.

www.thefrugalrver.com

“School buses have steel-ribbed frames that go all the way the length of the bus so it’s almost indestructible in its design because it carries kids,” said Derek. “The more I researched, the more I realized we could have a quality bus RV conversion for fairly cheap.”

How they designed their skoolie conversion

They two started looking at school buses to convert and found one for just $3,000, 27 feet in length. They then started getting down to business, coming up with school bus conversion ideas.

“We’re both bath people and that was a huge part of it,” Derek said. “We miss our bath from the house. We had a big garden tub and we’d sit in there and drink wine and it was a stress-reliever. That was a huge priority, which is why we have a massive bath that takes up 15% of our home.”

www.thefrugalrver.com

Their budget was $15,000, including the school bus, and the couple thinks they may have gone a little over, but still ended up under $20,000.

They have everything hooked up for solar; the electrical system alone was $6,000.

“We went small (27 feet in length), because we wanted to get off the beaten path camping,” said Derek “Our biggest goal was to be self-sustainable and be able to live very cheaply. We realized quickly with RVs that we’d have to tie into the grid, so we decided to go off-grid indefinitely. Our solar panels can last three weeks.”

He said its harder to maneuver the bigger school bus campers, so some people who buy those get frustrated fast.

“We lived the RV lifestyle and knew we didn’t need much and were going minimalist,” Derek said.

www.thefrugalrver.com

The school bus camper even includes a little bed for their 2-year-old daughter, who so far is loving the skoolie life.

“She gets excited when she sees it,” Amy said. “We have her car seat set up on the school bus so she can see out the front windows and the side windows. The windows roll down and blow fresh air and she loves it.”

www.thefrugalrver.com

So far, the family of three has driven across the United States and has parked on forest service land and other boondocking spots to get free camping. They’ve only spent $50 on their journey.

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“We’re still on a high so it’s pretty amazing right now,” said Derek. “It’s starting to sink in that this is our life now. For the most part it’s felt like a vacation.”

They plan on traveling indefinitely and say if you’re thinking about doing it, do your research and understand the costs before committing to a school bus conversion.

“Overall, I’d want to encourage people to do it,” said Amy. “It’s been a breath of fresh air for me and Derek and our daughter, and it’s freeing. It’s so freeing to get rid of all your stuff.”

The blue school bus, another school bus camper

www.skoolielove.com

Patrick Schmidt of Skoolie Love was living in Seattle when he first wanted to buy a school bus to convert into an RV. He searched Craigslist for days, eventually finding a 34-foot blue school bus for sale in California that had belonged to a church group.

So, he flew to get it and got a good deal.

“I bought it with just 68,000 miles on it. It was for sale for $5,500 initially, but when I told the pastor I wanted to travel and expand my life and have adventures, he was thrilled and sold it to more for just $4,500,” Patrick said.

To qualify as an RV, the school bus camper needed a few things. A bed, a way to cook, a way to provide cooling and heating. He decided to install a hot plate and plumbing for a toilet, water storage and shower. Now, it’s basically an entire apartment, 189 square feet on an awesome school bus conversion.

“I then traveled for two months,” Patrick said. “I saw 36 states and went 20,000 miles in my skoolie conversion. I didn’t want to do the rat race anymore, I wanted to see how else you could live. I wanted a place to call my own.”

The downside of living in a bus rv conversion

www.skoolielove.com

While Patrick enjoyed his newfound freedom, he also found it challenging to live in a school bus conversion. Many campgrounds only want RVs, or vehicles less than 10 years old. School buses are conspicuous to park on city streets. If you want to settle down in a big city in a skoolie, it’s not easy finding a place to legally park it.

“Some big cities don’t even allow tiny homes. They want you to have a foundation and take the wheels off,” he said. “And then, when I looked into buying a plot of land to park the bus on, there are some residential areas where you can only park for 30 or 90 days as its residentially zoned. They want you to prove you’re going to build something, not just camping.”

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He said finding insurance for a school bus conversion is also a challenge.

“It’s such a heartache. For them, it’s a liability. They don’t know how you did the plumbing, whether it will light on fire at a campground, will it leak going down the road,” he said. “Initially I paid $500 for a year, but then they wanted $800 for six months, and they kept raising it or changing it. It became such a problem that I was telling people not to get into buying a school bus, it will be stressful and difficult.”

Why he wouldn’t recommend living in a school bus conversion full time

www.skoolielove.com

Patrick said he’d be the first to tell someone not to live in a school bus conversion.

“I’m going to tell them ‘no’,” he said. “It’s because of the insurance, knowing that when you’re driving around you could get a flat tire. You need to have savings. You have to be aware that you live in a bus and will have to park in weird areas sometimes. I’ve woken up a lot at night. One time these kids were walking by and wanted to climb a ladder up to the roof. I was wide awake, in the back bedroom wondering if they were going to climb it, but luckily, nothing happened.”

He said the bus only gets 7 to 9 miles per gallon, which is very expensive if he wants to keep moving and traveling. So, he started a business selling t-shirts, where you can see here.

He does hope that the more people who live in a school bus camper, the more that things will change. Maybe cities will be more welcoming to school buses. Maybe insurance companies will offer cheaper policies. Maybe there will be better places to park.

Maybe in the future, we’ll see just as many school bus tiny homes as we’ll see school buses taking kids to school. You never know!

About The Author

Hi, I'm Kristin! I'm a journalist and writer living on a sailboat, exploring all the ways people are living cheaply and simply in their own Wayward Homes. I also lived in a car and a tent to avoid crazy Bay Area rent, and writing a book about it. You can learn more about me here: https://www.thewaywardhome.com/about-me/

I’m in the PNW (Pacific North West) and have been looking into medium sized Skoolie’s for many years.
Parking the beast is my biggest issue!! It seems like parking for a period of time is just way to expensive!
I prefer not to live via Wally World and Rest Stops. The boonie’s are nice but limited as well. I guess there is no way around the issues of maintenance, parking and insurance. Apartment rent would be cheaper combined with a regular car to get out and see various sites. I’m really bummed.

Yeah skoolies do seem to have their downsides. They are nice and big, like an apartment, but I think parking would be a pain. I think I’d give a vote for a van if I was going to have something for the road.

I’m using my Suburban at the moment. It serves as shelter and is good on fuel.

I’ve used a Conversion Van for a while and it’s still pretty cramped. Perhaps a high top van?

A bit more space like a small Bus or Step Van will be more comfortable, but stealth camping still has its drawbacks. Nothing is perfect and it’s about lifestyle. It all seems to come down to budget and time. What doesn’t?

Totally! I really would like a conversion van…a high-top would be nice for standing room, but one van life lady I know drives a Ford Transit Connect she got for $11,000. Usually, my boyfriend and I roadtrip and sleep in a Prius, so anything will feel roomier to me, haha!

Thank you for the article, my son is doing the same. He will be driving cross country from AR to WA. I understand finding a parking is a nightmare. Is there a list of schoolie friendly parking options please?